The big news this week is the successful moulding of the final component that completes the tail boom, the other half of the ducted fan opening, ready to be bonded on and finished. It’s now possible to see a completed tail boom for the first time.

In fact the second tail boom is being attached to fuselage 7, ready to be painted. At its base is a crushable, removable bumper, a feature that has not been on display until now.

And it’s all about doors at the moment, all 12 of them. The finer details of incorporating metal inserts such as signature lighting and door handles is underway, as the team work all hours to turn out machined components with the aim of optimising the action of the doors as they will function in the prototypes.